To inform Audit Committee of the outcome of
the review of the Strategic, Generic and Operational Risk Registers
and the annual review of partnerships.

Recommended
-
That the report be noted for informational

purposes.

Minutes:

The Corporate Performance Manager, Mike
Walker, presented a report which informed the Committee of the
outcome of the review of the Strategic, Generic and Operational
Risk Registers along with the annual review of partnerships.

There had been no major changes to the
Strategic Risk Register but a number of minor changes had been made
which were detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.

There had been two new risks added to the
Generic Risk Register during the review. The new risks were
summarised in the report and detailed in Appendix 2.

There had been three new risks submitted for
inclusion in the Operational Risk Register and were detailed in
Appendix 3 of the report.

A summary of all risks contained in the
Generic, Operational and Strategic Risk Registers were detailed in
Appendix 4 of the report.

Appendix 5 also contained details on the
partnership register with the latest status listed.

Councillor Michael
Miller asked if the partnership agreement between Barnfield and Hyndburn had to submit their accounts
via HBC or were they audited independently. At the last meeting
documents showed there had been losses and what liability falls
upon HBC and the risks if they ceased trading. The Chair asked for
this matter to be investigated and a reply provided.

The Chair on behalf of the Audit Committee
thanked the Corporate Performance Manager for all his hard work
over the years as this was his last HBC meeting before he left the
authority at the end of the month.

The Head of Audit and Investigations submitted
a report to inform members of the Audit Committee of Audit Reports
issued during the period July- October 2018 and bring to the
attention of the Committee what the key issues were.

Recommended
-
That the report be noted for informational

purposes.

Minutes:

The Head of Audit and Investigations submitted
a report to inform members of the Audit Committee of Audit Reports
issued during the period July - October 2018 and bring to the
attention of the Committee what the key issues were.

The HBC Senior Auditor, Angela Kelly reported
there was a target of 98% of the audit plan to be completed by the
end of the current financial year in terms of audit days completed.
The figures contained in the report gave updated details to the end
of October 2018 (54.58% of the plan completed) and the projected
out turn position for 2018/19 (93.56% of the plan completed).

A summary of the main issues arising from
audits carried out between July- October
2018 was attached to Appendix 1 of the report and detailed
both substantial and comprehensive audit assurance in the following
areas:

The Head of Audit and Investigations submitted
a report to inform members of the Audit Committee of the outcome of
routine follow-ups following the previously agreed action plans for
completed Audit Records. The follow-ups detailed within the report
are those carried out during the period August- October 2018.

Recommended
-
That the report be noted for informational

purposes.

Minutes:

The Head of Audit and Investigations submitted
a report to inform members of the Audit Committee on the outcome of
routine follow-ups following previous agreed action plans for
completed Audit Records. The follow-ups detailed within the report
were those carried out during the period August- October 2018.

The information on the following follow-ups
were carried out during the period August to October 2018 and were
detailed within Appendix 1 of the report.

·Car Allowances

6 actions agreed and 6 actions had
been implemented

·Training Budgets incorp
PDR process

1 action agreed and 1 action had been implemented

·Disabled Facility Grants

1 action agreed and 1 action had been
implemented

·Civic Regalia

5 actions agreed, 4 actions had been
implemented and 1 not implemented

The Deputy Chief Executive
submitted a report to inform members of the Audit Committee of the
outcome of the Local GovernmentAssociation
Independent Financial Peer Review, which was undertaken over the
Summer of 2018.

Recommended
-
That the report be noted for informational

purposes.

Minutes:

The Deputy Chief
Executive, Joe McIntyre had submitted a report to informAudit Committee of the outcome of the Local
Government Association Independent Financial Peer Review which was
undertaken over the summer of 2018.

The HBC Head of Accountancy, David
Donlan provided the Audit Committee
with a summary and that the report from the Local Government
Association was attached as Appendix 1 in the report. This was a
free independent assessment of HBC performance and had been
conducted since 2011.

The Chair commented that the report was
positive and no questions were raised by Members.

To inform members of the Annual Audit Letter
which summarises the key findings arising from the work carried out
at Hyndburn Borough Council for the year ended 31 March 2018. The
letter is intended to communicate the results of their work to the
council and external stakeholders. It also highlights issues that
they wish to draw to the attention of the public.

Recommended
-
That the report be noted for informational

purposes.

Minutes:

Grant Thornton submitted a report to inform
members of the Annual Audit Letter which summarised the key
findings arising from the work carried out at Hyndburn Borough
Council for the year ended 31 March 2018.

Helen Stevenson from Grant Thornton reported
that the letter was intended to communicate the results of their
work to the council and external stakeholders. It also highlighted
issues that they wished to draw to the attention of the public.

The executive summary provided the committee
with the main messages and the reports issues and fees were all in
line with the plan.

The report informed members of the Audit
Committee with an update on progress as of November 2018 in
delivering Grant Thornton’s responsibilities as external
auditors to the Council. It included a summary of emerging national
issues and developments that may be relevant and a number of
challenge questions in respect of emerging issues which the
Committee may wish to consider.

Recommended
-
That the report be noted for informational

purposes.

Minutes:

Grant Thornton submitted a report which
informed members of the Audit Committee with an update on progress
as of November 2018 in delivering Grant Thornton’s
responsibilities as external auditors to the Council. It included a
summary of emerging national issues and developments that were
relevant and a number of challenging questions in respect of
emerging issues which the Committee considered.

Helen Stevenson of Grant Thornton went through
the report with a summary of details for
each section, which included:

·Progress at November 2018

·Audit deliverables

·Sector update

·CIPFA Consultation

·
MHCLG Social Housing Green Paper

·
MHCLG Business rate pilots

·
Institute of Fiscal Studies

·
The health & Social care interface

·
Care home for the elderly

·
Links

A training event had been arranged for the
finance team to attend in the new year
and the Chair asked if this was open to Members. It was reported
that normally only a couple of places are allocated for Officers
from each authority.